Back to the land of public transportation
I think that's pretty self-explanatory.

I got my car back February 24, the day after I finished the temp assignment with the California Bar Exam (that was 4 days of interesting stuff that I'll talk about in a bit) and I'll be returning said car tomorrow, March 25 because I'm almost 28 days behind in payments, can't make car insurance payment because of no job (which I'll also talk about in a bit as well).

Now, a couple of days ago, the lease company sent me an email saying that if I return the car by Monday, they'll give me $500 (no questions asked), but the money can't be applied to my lease, or I do nothing and they come and take the car at an unspecified date/time. Hmm, turn the car in and get money or be faced with the embarrassment of having my car repo'ed when I least expect it? Pass. I'll take the money. According to the email I got, if I went the drop off route, I'd have the money deposited to my account by April 6. I'm holding them to that. If I don't have money in my account by the 7th or 8th, I'm calling them back and raising holy hell on them!

But anyway, fastest phone conversation I had with the car lease company was calling to get more information about returning my car because I could no longer make payments. I was expecting them to try to convince me to keep the car and/or work out some payment arrangement so that I keep the car and they keep getting money from me. Nope. that didn't happen. they told me the return procedure, asked me to contact them once I drop the car off so they can stop billing me and asked if there was anything else. It was NEVER that easy to get a live person to speak to when I wanted to work out some sort of payment arrangement but a conversation about returning the car is done in a little over 6 mins! So, that's that. Saturday morning I'll be dropping off the car and it's back to the land of public transportation until I can afford to buy a car without having a monthly payment.

Now for the 4 day assignment I had with the California Bar Exam folks. That was interesting. For a bit it didn't look like I would be able to stay after the initial orientation because my name wasn't on any of the sign up sheets. What apparently happened was the temp agency people got crossed messages and didn't stop offering the assignment to people once a certain number had been reached. There was about 4 of us without a job, so to speak, on that first day, but the person in charge made it work and we were able to stay.

Proctoring for an exam, especially one like the State Bar, is no joke! We were proctoring for people who asked for, and were granted, special leeway for when they took the test (there was a person in a wheelchair, there was a lady who used a breast pump, one lady was allowed to lay on the bed to take the test, a couple of people who had physical impairments that made it impossible for them to take the exam regularly). Since it was at a hotel, the Exam was taking place on 4 floors - 4, 5, and 14. No hotel guests were allowed on those floors, just people associated with the exam (Bar Exam staff, proctors, security and the applicants).

Monday, after the orientation, was set up day. Posters taped to walls, registration tables set up and the actual proctors met the applicants they'd be working with. The exams were spread out over 4 to 6 days, depending on the applicant and how many exams they were taking per day. The exams went from 8 am to almost 6 pm, again, depending on how the applicant's arrangements were for the State Exam.

Tuesday was the start of the exams. Proctors and and security were assigned to arrive at the hotel at 7 am to open the testing rooms and set up for when the first of the applicants arrived at 7:30 or 8 am. That was a lot of sitting and being quiet. Even as security, we couldn't do much talking. We would give the testing proctors 15 min breaks every couple of hours, made sure applicants didn't talk or cheat. Like I said, a lot of sitting and being quiet.

The way of Tuesday continued on Wednesday and Thursday. However! interesting things were happening amongst the security personnel! One lady got into verbal fights with no only the head of security, but also two State Bar staff! I believe that happened on Wednesday. She was actually escorted out of the hotel by the police security that was around for the Exam. It was crazy. I don't know all of what went down, but from what I heard, she was spending most of her time in the stairwell talking on her phone rather than monitoring the halls and giving testing proctors breaks like she was supposed to.

My security time ended on Thursday. Exams still continued on Friday, Saturday and Sunday but there were less applicants so all of the proctors and security people weren't needed. There's another round of testing in June and again in October. I hope I'm available to do it again, but if I'm in school (will talk about that in a bit) or working, I won't be able to take a week off to do it.

So, Sunday I was contacted by a lady from one of the places I sent my resume into. I found the ad on craigslist and it was the most basic job, I didn't know anything about it. I mean, they wanted someone with computer experience and that person had to also be mature. Okay, I guess I fit that. I sent my resume and the lady called Sunday and I interviewed on Monday. The place is literally 4 blocks from where I live! I mean, the blocks are long, but I will leave an hour early to make sure I get there on time!

The job with a home inspection company and they needed additional office help typing up inspection notes and keeping up the office. I can totally do that, especially for $12 an hour! The lady told me she had another person to interview and would be in touch with me by the end of the week as they needed someone asap - she was going on vacation April 24 and needed to be sure the person at least had a general idea of what they were doing on their system.

Well, here it is Friday and I'm sort of stressing out that I won't get the job. I never know what exactly people mean when they say "end of the week". Is that Friday or Saturday? So yeah, I'm stressing. I really want/need this job!

Also, the temp agency is shit! Or at least the representative assigned to work with me is shit. Last Friday my account rep called and told me there was a customer service position in Los Angeles that was available and it was interviewing on Tuesday. Well I ask him basic questions: where is the company, the name of the company, the time of the interview...you know, stuff someone should know if they're going to interview. Well he didn't have a fucking clue! Didn't know the name of the company, where exactly it was located (Los Angeles is a huge fucking city!) or the time of the interview! He told me the client would contact me to get a feel for my personality before the interview. That never happened! In fact, no one called me. I had to call on Monday, after my earlier interview finished, and I find out that the client wasn't even one he worked with! It was his co-worker's client and she was out of the office, but as soon as she came back in, he would get the necessary information.

So I waited. and waited. and waited. Basically, I didn't go to that interview. Lovely. So now you see why I really need to hear back from the the place I interviewed with on Monday. The temp agency isn't probably going to work for me...again...and I'm fucking tired of living with my sister.

A couple weeks ago I went to a counselor at Long Beach City College and asked what it would take for me to seriously finish my bachelor's degree as far as classes I needed to take to transfer. We worked out this tentative plan and once my official transcripts from Cerritos and Cypress colleges get to LBCC, a more permanent plan can be made. I have the transcripts from Cerritos, just waiting for the ones to be mailed from Cypress. I'm thinking the first week in April I'll make the follow up appointment with a counselor to put an actual educational plan in place.

The tentative plan is 2 lower level math classes and I can transfer, or the 2 lower math classes, plus 6 degree related courses and then I can transfer. Now with option 2, if I take the 6 degree related courses at the community college, I will have enough to get my Associates degree in Business Administration and can then transfer for to do Bachelor's degree in Business Admin with concentration in Public Service & Public Policy. If I did the first option, I'd have to take all the degree required courses at the next school.

In total, there's 8-16 classes, I believe, that are needed until I finish my Bachelor's degree. That's about another 2-4 semesters or 1 1/2 to 2 years more of school. I CAN DO THIS!

BIG SIGH! I think that's everything! Until next update! I hope that will have more good news than anything else! Please send positive job and school thoughts my way! I really need them!